Wide-band modulation of frequencystabilized osciliators



lFeb. 16, 1954 L. E. NORTON 2,669,693

WIDE-BAND MODULATION OF' FREQUENCY-STABILIZED OSCILLATORS Filed May 12, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet l NHA/MK iwf-MYI 5771 INVENTOR L. E. NORTON Feb. 16, 1954 WIDE-BAND MODULATION OF FREQUENCY-STABILIZED OSCILLATORS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May l2, 1950 www INVENTOR wellEMlll ATTORNEY L. E. NORTON Feb. 16, 1954 WIDE-BAND MODULATION OF' FREQUENCY-STABILIZED OSCILLATORS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May l2, 1950 n N m A wYQ/ wa @Eg J. Il @y Q ww. Sm@ m QuwNk-uk J. QW. l EI w im@ Patented Feb. 16, 1954 UNITED STATES OFFICE' Lowell Norton,-Princeton, N. 3., assigner to Radio Corporation of America, a corporation of Delawarey Application May 12, 1950,' serial No; 151;'50'7" (ci. sse-19) Patent No. 2,602,897, issued July 8, 1952,!and

5,603, filed January'3l', A11948, now Patent No. 2,559,730 issued July 10, 1951.v The-,modulating systems and methods Vherein disclosed and claimed are in some respects of generally like character' but are -especially suited for transmission of television, Vfacsirnil'e'and otherl signals requiring wide-band modulation of 4the carrier frequency.

In accordance with the present invention, the

Wide range of frequency modulation rates required .for Wide-band'modulation-are effected,

without impairment-oftherigid stabilization of the .mean carrier frequency and without'disto'rtion of the modulation, .by varying, fin accordance with. the `modulating signaL. both lthe reference,

frequency usedv fon stabilizationV and the `-potential of a frequency-controlelectrodefofthe oscillator tube or a reactance tube associated there- With in the oscillator system. More specically,

the frequency modulation of the carrier is made proportional to the incremental change in: the

standard frequency or to-'the `Vincremental potential change l of the frequency-control electrode by applying themodulating signal to vary both thereference frequency and the electrode potential in a proportion which is xed for the varying amplitude of the modulating signal and which is uniquely denedby transfer factors respectively of the oscillator system and the frequencyerror detector ofV the servo loopgith'e numerical value of the proportionality factor depending` upon which of the two'types of :proportional modulation is desired.

More particularlyf in stabilized 'Irnicrovvave' generator systems in which. a confined bodylof molecularly resonant gas serves as the frequency standard, the modulating rsignal is applied to a Stark electrode in the gas to shift the molecularly resonant frequency in accordancewith the modulation and is also applied effectively in series with 2 theoutput of the errordetector to a Yfrequencycontrol electrode of the oscillator system orftube. The effects of Stark eld electrodesherein termed Stark electrodes are described an article entitled Resolution of a Vrotational lineV of the OCS molecule and its Stark eifect, by T. W. Dakin et al., Physical Review, vol. 70, October 1946, page 560;

The invention further resides in methodsand systems having the features of novelty and utility hereinafter described and claimed.

For a more detailedunderstanding of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying' drawings, in which: *l

l and lA are'blcck diagrams of the basic frequency-stabilized, frequency-modulated oscillator system of the invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are explanatory' figures' referredA to in discussion of Figs. 1,5 and 6;

Figs. 4A and 4B are curves typical of thefrequency/voltage characteristic of' differenttypes of microwave oscillator tubes; and- Figs. 5 and 6 are block diagrams of two specific embodiments of the system of Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1, the carrier *frequencyk wo of an oscillator l0 is stabilized by the output Voltage ec of an erroi` detector Il which compares the oscillator frequency with the frequency ws of a standard l2 which may be a cell containing a molecularly resonant gas, a high gas Qcircut element, or a source of standard frequency voltage, depending upon the particular stabilizing arrangement used. By. way of example and for purpose of explanation, the oscillator lll maybeas in Vmyaforesaid co-pendingapplications and other applications referred to herein, a klystron or other microwave generator, and the frequency standard may be a conned body of ammonia or other gas exhibiting molecular resonance at mi` crowave frequencies. Also for purposes of explanation, it is assumed the operating voltages applied to the oscillator are constant except for a voltage ei applied to a frequency-control electrode of the oscillator,v ordinarily the reector' anode in the gas of a reflex' klystron. For lower frequency oscillators, the frequency-control electrede may be that of a reactance tube included;

in manner known perse, in the oscillator system.

The dimensional transfer lfactor u of the oscillator may be defined as:

The dimensional transfer factor of the error a detector II, which may be of type disclosed in my co-pending applications, may be defined as:

*wg-w,

where the control-voltage es, as more fully discussed in my copending application, is of polarity or sense dependent upon the algebraic sign of the difference between the frequencies wo, ws.

For frequency stabilization purposes, the error voltage eC is applied to the frequency-control electrode to oppose departure of the oscillator .requency o from the standard frequency ws, the frequency-stabilizing conditions of the servo loop being expressed as:

Otherwise stated, the output frequency of the oscillator is To provide a control voltage en which is of opposite polarity for positive and negative deviations of the mean oscillator frequency, it is necessary that the detector II include a rectifier and a filter generically represented in Fig. l by the crystal rectifiers I9, resistor I'I and capacitor I8. Therefore, the transfer factor will ordinarily decrease with increasing rate of frequency deviation, as illustrated in Fig. 2, with consequent decrease in the rate of increase of the control voltage ec as shown in Fig. 3. The transfer factor of the detector I I may therefore be expressed as where is the zero error frequency value of R and C are the resistance and capacitance Values of the lter I'I, I 8, and

p is the rate of frequency deviation.

that potential and the oscillator frequency may be expressed as dwg:

whereas, if the modulating signal is applied to vary only the standard frequency ws, the time derivatives of the oscillator frequency and the standard frequency may be expressed as With the modulating signal applied, in accordance with the present invention, concurrently to vary both the reference frequency and the potential of the frequency-control electrode, the total incremental change in oscillator frequency is (8) ndez -icudwa (de) T-Tn In practice, the incremental changes in ei and we should not be made so extremely large that the oscillator changes its mode with resultant discontinuity of fr and during modulation: neither should the modulation swing be so extremely large that u and lose their character of 4 simple transfer factors. Within the wide limits of oscillator frequency for which L and are simple transfer factors and are not discontinuous. the modulating signal may be applied in accord ance with Equation 8 to effect wide-band modulation of the carrier.

In order that the resulting modulation ((1%)T shall be proportional to the modulation component (dei) of the frequency-control electrode potential and shall also be independent of the modulation rate, the modulation ((1%)T should be independent of if simple resistive networks are to be used because this parameter depends upon the rate of modulation.

To obtain such proportionality and independence, the relation between the modulation and the potential of the frequency-control electrode must be expressible as 9) (da) T=Mazei where M is the proportionality constant and hence, from Equation 8:

For the simplest case in which M :1:

(11) dwszwn-Qdei For normal values of p, constants Equation 11 reduces to In the system diagrammatically shown in Fig. l, both as and ei are varied by the modulating signal EN. However, since only resistances are used in network I3, the requirement of Equation llA that modulation to ei must be modied by the factor upon application to ws cannot be met. As shown in Fig. 2, [3 ordinarily has a decreasing characteristic with increasing modulation rate p, so the modulator and simple resistive network I3 of Fig. 1 must be replaced by the modulator and network I 3 which has a rising characteristic with rate p to conform with the requirement. In this case, potentials at a and b in Fig. 1A will normally be in phase opposition.

The total incremental frequency modulation (doo) T may, in a preferred method, be made proportional to dwsinstead of del In such alternative case where Q is the proportionality factor and. hence 12) deplmodwoldw.

particular form shown, network I3 is a double potentiometer in the output circuit of a modulator I4 of any suitable known type. The ad- ,instable contacts of the two potentiometers or slidewires may be ganged for adjustment of unison to obtain the desired proportionality factor of the modulating signal as applied respectively to vary the reference frequency and the potential of the control electrode. Potentials at a and b will normally be in phase. The transfer constants of the oscillator and of the detector being known or determinable in any particular installation, the circuit consta-nts of network I3 may be chosen by one skilled in the art to satisfy the relationships defined in Equations l2 and 13 and so obtain this novel method of wide-band modulation of a stabilized oscillator.

Thus when, in the system of Fig. l, both ei and ws are varied according to the relationship expressed in Equation 11, or to the preferred special case Equation 13, the incremental frequency shift or modulation will be directly proportional to the incremental change of the reference frequency and will be independent of the rate of modulation. Thus, in both methods, although the transfer factor is dependent upon the rate of modulation, simultaneous application of the modulation to the reference frequency and to the frequency control electrode makes the resultant frequency modulation independent of the rate of modulation and the resulting frequency-modulation of the oscillator carrier is proportional to the amplitude of the modulating signal.

As illustrative of application of the invention to a frequency-stabilized oscillator system of a type disclosed in copending application Serial No. 4,497, reference is made to Fig. 5. In brief description of the servo system for stabilizing oscillator I0, the frequency of a second oscillator 2@ is repeatedly swept over a range including the frequency at which ammonia or other gas conned in a cell IEA exhibits molecular resonance. The output of oscillator 2i) is transmitted as by a wave guide or other suitable transmission line to the gas cell so that in each sweep cycle of oscillator 2t the output of the gas cell, as demodulated by a rectifier 2 IA of any suitable type, includes a sharp pulse occurring as the sweeping frequency passes through the resonant frequency of the gas. The series of pulses so produced is impressed upon one input circuit of detector II. As one way of effectively cancelling other than the pulse output of cell IZA, there may be used a second rectifier 22 connected as by a directional coupler to oscillator 2E! in advance of the cell 12A. f

The outputs of the oscillators IQ and 2li are impressed upon a mixer 23 jointly to produce a varying beat or diiference-frequency which is subjected to the relective action of a filter or equivalent frequency-discriminating amplifier network 2d so that in each sweep cycle of oscillator 20, the output of the network 2d as de modulated by rectifier` 25 includes a pulse occur ring as the beat frequency passes through a particular value wf determined by characteristlcsvof the lter 24: wf may be zero for a low-pass filter or a finite value for a resonant filter as discussed in aforesaid applications. This second series of pulses is also impressed upon the error detector II. As more fully explained in various of aforesaid applications, when the two series of pulses occur in coincidence or in predetermined xed time relation, the output voltage ec of the phase or coincidence detector II is zero. However, upon deviation of the frequency of oscillator Il) from the reference frequency (ws plus wf; or w8 minus wf), the output of the detector II is of one sense or the other depending upon the sense of the frequency deviation, and is of magnitude corresponding Iwith the deviation. Also as more fully explained in aforesaid applications, this control voltage is applied to the oscillator tube or to a control tube associated therewith in proper sense to bring the oscillator frequency back to the reference value.

In accordance with the present invention, to frequency-modulate the oscillator I0 so stabilized by the two-channel servo system including the gas cell in one channel and the low-frequency filter amplifier 2d in the other channel, the modulating signal is applied to vary the frequency at which the gas in cell IZA exhibits molecular resonance and is also applied effectively in series with the control voltage ec to the frequency-control electrode of the oscillator system.

Specincally, the gas cell I2A is provided with a Stark electrode 26. The battery 21 or equivallent direct current source is connected in circuit with the Stark electrode for production in the gas chamber of a direct-current field. The Stark electrode is also connected in circuit, as by trans'- former I6 or other coupling means, with the source I of the modulating signal for production within the gas chamber of an alternating field corresponding in frequency and amplitude with the modulating signal. The intensity of the direct-current field of the electrode is substantially greater than the peak values ofthe modulating field. For the second order Stark effect in ammonia, the Stark frequency shift is about 12 megacycles for a ield of 250 volts per centimeter. For a typical klystron operating` in the K-band range, the transfer factor /i is about 20 megacycles per volt. If the gas chamber I2A is a K-band wave guide with a height of 0.4 centimeter, then for this example, if the maximum swing frequency of the modulated signal is 12 megacycles, the actuating Stark voltage is 100 volts, and the corresponding incremental change of the frequency electrode potential should be 0.6 volt. Accordingly, the ratio of the incremental Stark voltage to the incremental reflector voltage must be 167 for this typical case. Such ratio between the two incremental voltages is obtained by adjustment of the contact of the potential divider or potentiometer ISA to the corresponding setting.

If it is desired to operate over a wider range of frequency-modulation swings (beyond the limits F1, F2 of Figs. 4A and 4B), a suitable nonlinear network 13B should be switched into the circuit, as by switch 23, to compensate for the curvature of the reilector voltage/klystron frequency characteristic (Fig. 4A) or of the anodevoltage/frequency characteristic of a magnetron (Fig. 4B).

Instead of applying the modulation to a Stark electrode as in Fig. 5 to introduce incremental changes in the reference frequency, the same ef-l fect 'may be obtained by causing incremental delay, or incremental voltage, inthe input to the phase or coincidence detector of the two-channel system, as disclosed in my aforesaid applications, Serial Numbers 115,698 and 135,780. In the latter case, of course, the proper proportion of the modulating signal is also injected, as by network 13A, effectively in series with the output of the coincidence detector so independently and concurrently to effect an incremental change in the potential of the frequency-control electrode. In `general, it is only necessary for the voltages causing' the delay and the voltages on the reflector or other frequency-control electrode to be in the proper ratio, or for the voltage causing' the detec- -tor differential voltage and the reector voltage to be in the ratio defined by Equation. 13.

By using two gas cells, one with a Stark elec- -trode whose field is modulated as in Fig. 5, and

one Without a Stark electrode and in circuit with a second phase detector, thereby may be automatically obtained the required incremental reiector voltage. Such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 6 in which the elements corresponding with elements of Fig. 5 are identified by the same reference characters. The frequency-stabilization in Fig. 6 is effected in the same way as in Fig. 5, andhence description of the stabilization need not be repeated. The system of Fig. 6 differs from that of Fig. 5 in that the output frequency of the sweep oscillator 20 is applied to a second gas chamber 12B containing gas exhibiting molecular resonance at the same frequency as the gas in cell l2A. Thus, the output of the second gas chamber IZB, as demodulated by rectifier 2 IB, consists of a series of pulses, each occurring as the frequency of oscillator 20 passes through the fixed reference frequency of this standard. This series of pulses is impressed upon one input circuit of detector 3l which may be similar to detector H.

of the two series of pulses applied to detector 3| l are shifted in accordance with the modulation and the output voltage ei of detector 3| accordingly varies with the frequency shift caused by the modulating potential EM. The output voltages oi the two detectors Il and 3l are applied in 4 series to the reiiex anode or other frequencycontrol electrode of oscillator i0.

Thus in both the systems of Figs. 5 and 6, the method of modulation is that generally defined by Equation 8 and specifically defined by Equation 13.

It should be understood that the invention is not limited to modulation of the output frequency of klystron or other microwave oscillators, but is applicable to any servo stabilized oscillator for wide-band modulation thereof.

f What is claimed is:

l. In a frequency-stabilized oscillator system comprising an electronic tube having an electrode whose potential affects the oscillator frequency w., in accordance with a transfer factor a, a feedback loop including a detector having a transfer factor and a standard of frequency ws coupled to said detector for production of a feedback potential applied to said electrode to affect the 8 oscillator frequency w., in accordance with the relation a method of frequency-modulating the stabilized oscillator which comprises simultaneously and independently varying said electrode potential and the standard frequency in accordance with a. modulating signal to effect anl incremental change (do.)T of the oscillator frequency which corresponds with #dei-llldwa 1| wherein dei and dws are respectively the incremental changes of the electrode potential and the standard frequency.

2. A method as defined in claim l in which the ratio @sa de;

corresponds with rMwclM-u m3 wherein M. is a proportionality constant so to insure that the frequency modulation isl proportional to the modulation component (de.) of said electrode potential and is independent of thefrate of modulation.

3. A method as defined. in claim 2 in which the proportionality factor is unity.

4. A method as defined in claim 1 in which. the ratio er dw,

corresponds with #6( Q-b l.) Q

wherein Q is the proportionality constant so to insure that the frequency modulation is proportional to the modulation component (dw-S) of the is substantially equal to the reciprocal of the transfer factor a.

6. A system for frequency-stabilizing and fre'- quency-modulating the carrier of an oscillator including an electronic tube whose potential (ex) affects the oscillator frequency (wo) in accordance with a transfer factor (a) which comprises a feedback loop from the output system. of said oscillator to said electrode, a frequency-error detector in said loop and including a resistance-reactance network having a transfer factor a. source of standard frequency (we) coupled to said detector for production of a feedback potential applied to said electrode to affect the oscillator frequency in accordance with the relation 1lul3 1+# and modulating means for simultaneously 'vary'- ing said potential and the standard frequency in accordance with a modulating signal to such extents (dei and dws) that the incremental change (dwo)T o1 the oscillator frequency corresponds with 7. A frequency-stabilized, frequency modulated oscillator system comprising an oscillator to be stabilized and modulated, a frequency standard, a detector for producing a frequencycontrol voltage for said oscillator, a sweep oscillator repeatedly sweeping a range including the standard frequency, means for producing and applying to said detector a series of pulses each occurring as the sweeping frequency passes through the frequency of said standard, means for producing and applying to said detector a second series of pulses each occurring as the beat frequency of said oscillators passes through a predetermined value, the phase relation of the two series of pulses determining the sense and magnitude of said frequency-control voltage, a modulator, means for applying the output of said modulator to shift the phase relation of said two series of pulses in accordance with the amplitude of the modulator output, means for concurrently applying the modulator output eiec- 10 tively in series with said frequency-control Voltage, the variation of the standard frequency with modulation being effected by applying the modulator output to vary the Stark Effect in a a conned body of molecularly-resonant gas serving as the frequency-standard, and a second body of molecularly resonant gas connected to be swept by said sweep oscillator, a second detector, means for impressing on said second detector the demodulated energies transmitted by both bodies of gas, and connections for applying the outputs of said detectors jointly to determine the potential of a frequency-control electrode of the rst-named oscillator.

LOWELL E. NORTON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,425,657 Tuniek Aug. 12, 1947 2,462,294 Thompson Feb. 22, 1949 2,470,892 Hepp May 24, 1949 2,475,074 Bradley July 5, 1949 2,555,150 Norton May 29, 1951 2,591,257 Hershberger Apr. 1, 1952 

